Habib Battah
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: As Lebanon approaches the end of a 40-day mourning period for slain economic and political heavy weight Rafik Hariri, some of the commercial areas hit hardest by his loss are finally beginning to see businesses pick up after weeks of uncertainty.
The trendy restaurants and street-side cafes of upscale Beirut Central District – which had been teeming with tourists until Hariri’s assassination in February – were breathing a sigh of relief on Palm Sunday.
“Today,thank God,business is very good,” said Mohammed Kallas, a manager at popular Downtown eatery, Bliss House. “Last week,the only people sitting here were employees.”
Despite a bomb blast that left several wounded in a residential neighborhood early Saturday morning, some entrepreneurs reported a boost in consumer confidence which has plummeted since political turmoil swept the country.
“For the first time in five weeks,my restaurant is full – upstairs, downstairs; inside and outside,” said the owner of a prominent Downtown restaurant. “I’m not saying business is back to normal but at least you could pay your expenses.” The restaurateur, who asked to remain anonymous, said direct losses reached $40,000 since Hariri’s killing – a figure that would easily climb to $70,000 when calculating the loss of potential business in the high-maintenance district.
“Every single day that I don’t have customers, I have to pay $1,600 between rent, electricity, municipal taxes and wages,” the owner said.
More Lebanese have converged on BCD than ever before during the last month, but the hundreds of thousands of protestors brandishing Lebanese flags and Hariri’s photo have also stifled one of the commercial projects he was most proud of. The former prime minister poured billions into Downtown Beirut – which bore the brunt of the Lebanese civil war – creating a private real-estate company in the early 1990s to restore the area’s historic architecture.
Over the years, the BCD had finally become a major tourist attraction and property values soared with some outlets paying up to $200,000 for annual leases. But high overhead costs have become increasingly worrying for restaurant owners, who have been forced to throw away tons of food in recent weeks.
Many have begun to send staff on temporary leave, reporting 80 to 90 percent drops in sales. Prominent politicians and businesses were expected to hold a meeting this week to encourage more locals to visit the area which had been repeatedly closed off by the military during recent protests.
Hariri’s sister, Sidon MP Bahia Hariri, urged Lebanese organizations to band together to create innovative approaches toward reviving Beirut’s economy at a news conference held at the landmark Phoenicia hotel last week.
The Phoenicia and four other seafront hotels are currently undergoing multimillion- dollar repair works after sustaining severe damage from the blast that killed Hariri.
Some restaurant owners said the MP’s calls have already begun to take effect. “It’s getting better,” said Tony Rached, a manager at Al- Balad restaurant in the BCD. “Business dipped a little bit after the bombing on Saturday, but today during the day – until now, it’s very good.”
Rached said his restaurant, like many of its neighbors, had been plagued with daily losses of $3,000. But over the last two days,he said daytime business had virtually returned to normal, although occupancy falls to 40 percent during evenings,which had traditionally been a peak time in the area.
A return to the civil strife that tore apart Beirut from 1975 to 1990 was far from the mind of another restaurateur. “The situation is totally different than 1975, trust me, nobody wants war. Unfortunately other people will decide this for us. That’s what happened in 1975.”